Is Goldman Special? Was It Ever?

By

Jamie Heller

Mar 14, 2012 12:30 pm ET

Greg Smith’s screed against Goldman in today’s NYT surfaced a longstanding question about Goldman: Was its culture ever special among the ranks of investment banks? (Yes, Smith says.) Is it special still? (He says nope.)

Deal Journal posed the question to one Goldman alumni who was a partner in the ’70s and ’80s. Then, he said, Goldman “really was special.” There were far fewer people, it was a private partnership, and its leadership repeatedly emphasized the importance of putting clients first, he said.

He recalled senior partner Gus Levy urging employees to be “long-term greedy,” that is, do the right thing by clients and long term, business would thrive.

Leaders John Whitehead and John Weinberg would repeatedly give speeches around the firm urging employees to put clients first, said this person, who recalled coming out of meetings “so motivated by the morality of the place.”